Articles such as beverages or other consumer product containers are typically filled in a production line where a single given liquid or other product is placed in the articles. The operation of the line may be changed if a different flavor or type of liquid is to be used. Liquid supply, container type, labeling, etc., may be changed in such case.
Typically, all of the filled articles leaving a production line during a given production run hold the same product. The filled articles are then grouped by machinery or hand into groupings to be used for wholesale or retail shipment. Packaging of some sort is used to hold the groupings together as desired. The packaging could be multipacks of various designs, shrink wrapping, stretch wrapping, trays, boxes, combinations, etc. Articles may be grouped from 2 to 24 or more in a grouping.
Because production lines typically output only a single type of article, they are not typically designed to create mixed groupings of articles. In the case of soda, one might wish to mix different flavors in a case of 24 cans. To do so, complicated singulating and laning systems have been employed to divide mass flows of each flavor of articles into single file rows of articles. If a mixed case of four flavors were desired, then four such systems would be required. Portions of the resulting differentiated flows are then grouped in the number desired in the mixed grouping (such as six articles of each of four flavors to create a case of 24 articles). Cartoning or other packaging machines can take a plurality of flows and divide them into groups for packaging, such as six of each of four flavors, using conveyors, flight bars, pins, etc. While such singulating and laning systems have been successfully deployed for many years, such systems require a fair amount of floor space, and include numerous motors, sensors, and controls to drive conveyor belts. If four systems are provided together, required size, complication and cost is increased.
To avoid such issues, groupings have often been done manually. In such systems, employees place bulk groupings of articles into differentiated lanes according to a desired grouping. However, multiple employees would likely be required to match the throughput of a given multi-beverage singulating and laning system, which may be impractical from a cost or space available aspect.
Accordingly, a system for creating differentiated, laned flows of articles for packaging in desired groupings and that addresses one or more of the above drawbacks of present systems, or that solves other problems, would be welcome.